As illustrated by an articulated three-dimensional coordinate measuring machine 20 in FIG. 1, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-47014 (hereafter, Patent Literature 1) discloses a manual three-dimensional coordinate measuring machine in which a measuring probe 24 disposed at the tip of an arm mechanism 22 is manually moved. This measuring machine allows the user to measure a work W in a contact or noncontact manner by the measuring probe 24 while referring to design information or measurement conditions that are displayed on a display 32 of a desktop computer 30 (or a dedicated electrical device). In the drawing, reference numeral 26 denotes a tripod for use in supporting the articulated three-dimensional coordinate measuring machine 20 set thereon.
In such a system, a user U checks, for example, a position on the work W that the user U has to measure on the display 32 of the desktop computer 30 and makes measurements while checking the position against the actual position on the work W. That is, each time a measurement is made, the user U repeats the action of alternately looking at the display 32 and the work W. It is conceivable that depending on the size of the work W or the measurement situation, the user U cannot directly, visually observe the display 32. It is primarily expected that the user U may obtain measurement results more efficiently with higher reliability without much deviating the line of sight from the work W each time measurements are made. However, it is a significant drawback with this system that the user U is expected to direct the line of sight to the display 32 of the desktop computer 30.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example in which the system is connected to a notebook computer (notebook PC) 34. In this case, the notebook PC 34 can be set up near the work W and thus provide improvements when compared with the system with the desktop computer, allowing the user U to view the display more easily while making measurements than with the desktop computer. However, in most cases, since the line of sight is still deviated, measurements are interrupted to view the details being displayed. There may also be cases where depending on the size of the work W or the measurement environment, even the notebook PC 34 cannot be placed nearby and thus the display cannot not be directly, visually observed. This leads to the same problem as that with the desktop computer.
Note that disclosed in Japanese Translation of PCT Patent Application Publication No. 2013-517504 (hereafter, Patent Literature 2) is an electrical device unit which includes an open/close type display near the base of the articulated arm coordinates measuring machine.
Furthermore, disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,299 (hereafter, Patent Literature 3) is that a screen capable of displaying texts is provided at the tip of an arm.
However, even in the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 3, since the text screen is mounted on the arm tip, appropriate navigation or measurement instructions could not be provided.
For example, there was also a problem that test gages and test jigs used for automobiles parts were used to measure a designated point; however, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the user could not locate the actual position on the work W, and it was thus difficult to measure the designated point with the articulated three-dimensional coordinate measuring machine.